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The Digital Evolution Model in the Public Sector

The public sector is undergoing a digital evolution. Public sector agencies are embracing a digital business model to accommodate an aging citizen population, inefficient and duplicative enterprise systems, cost pressures due to budget shortfalls, and a shift in expectations from a new generation.

Ideally, the digital journey of these agencies should revolve around citizen value and cost savings that increase as an agency invests in the digital enterprise.

For the public sector, the digital evolution model consists of the following stages: One-Off Applications/Technology, Immersive Experiences, Digital Enterprise, and Business Process/Model Transformation. NTT DATA applies the Digital Evolution Model to help public sector clients manage their transition to a digital agency.

The first stage is embracing emerging technologies to enable the digital business ecosystem, including one-off projects using mobile, cloud, BI/ analytics, social media, big data, cyber security, etc.

The key to this stage is avoid simply acquiring tools and technologies. Instead, agencies should try to thoughtfully understand which technologies align with your broader mission and processes. Selecting tools because you want to “do” mobile or cloud or to match general federal guidance is a waste of taxpayer money and agency time.

Without thoughtful consideration, the digital evolution could also have a negative effect, creating friction in an already complex journey. Done right, agencies at this stage can benefit from ubiquitous access, near real-time information, and improved channels of interaction.

The second stage puts the citizen experience at the center of your agency’s goals and objectives. Immersive experiences are driving the current digital conversation and focus on three key areas:

Connect with the audience by designing engaging experiences built on an understanding of citizen context and needs

Deliver experiences to your audience consistently across devices and channels

Engage with your audience in a sustainable way by making it social/fun and by establishing deeper citizen and employee engagement and experiences

The third stage further evolves the organization by taking a measured approach to align business functions and processes to IT initiatives—integrating systems of record to systems of engagement. Done correctly, benefits include speed to value, enterprise scalability, and the ability to have invest-to-grow conversations (offensive IT) instead of spend-to-save conversations (defensive IT). The overall architecture is optimized in an agile manner to align with business processes and strategy, creating efficiencies during execution.

The fourth stage is government-led business process transformation. Estonia’s Digital Government initiative created a completely new business strategy and model by leveraging technologies like blockchain, data, social, mobile, and cloud. In doing so, it created relevance, transparency, and a more engaging experience for its citizens. The assumption here is that Estonia’s business processes and architecture were optimized to leverage the change and evolve the digital business. This stage ensures there’s a gradual culture transformation at the enterprise level, driving both citizens and government employees to think and act differently.

Many agencies are initiating one-off technology projects as a way to embrace digital. But the real shift starts with aligning your agency’s vision with strategic priorities and supporting IT investment. If you take a citizen-centric view right from the start and consider how culture, individual roles, service, market factors, regulatory guidance, and other things align with the citizen, the result will be concrete outcomes.